Population fluctuations: models, mechanisms and management. Changes in plant populations lead to extinctions and invasions in Australia and globally. The project will determine the drivers of plant population change and provide new tools to enable better population management.
A predictive framework for invaded communities. Australian native and agricultural landscapes are under threat from introduced plant species. Over $1.5 billion per year is spent on subsequent land management. However it is not clear that this is money is well spent. This project aims to determine the importance of the two major factors (dispersal and habitat) that drive the invasion of Australian native plant communities by surveying native Australian plant communities with different levels of d ....A predictive framework for invaded communities. Australian native and agricultural landscapes are under threat from introduced plant species. Over $1.5 billion per year is spent on subsequent land management. However it is not clear that this is money is well spent. This project aims to determine the importance of the two major factors (dispersal and habitat) that drive the invasion of Australian native plant communities by surveying native Australian plant communities with different levels of disturbance and numbers of introduced species. The results could enable the building and testing of an innovative model for predicting the establishment and spread of invasive species. This critical research could help target money towards better management of invasive species in native environments.Read moreRead less
Population fluctuations: models, mechanisms and management. Changes in plant populations lead to extinctions and invasions in Australia and globally. The project will determine the drivers of plant population change and provide new tools to enable better population management.
New multi-scale seed dispersal models for improved regional weed management. This project will exploit recent advances in ecological and atmospheric modelling with the aim to build improved models of seed dispersal across landscapes to anticipate weed spread. Damaging invasive plants are rapidly transforming landscapes and altering ecosystem function worldwide. The speed and direction of weed spread determines the success or failure of costly containment and control actions, however we lack the ....New multi-scale seed dispersal models for improved regional weed management. This project will exploit recent advances in ecological and atmospheric modelling with the aim to build improved models of seed dispersal across landscapes to anticipate weed spread. Damaging invasive plants are rapidly transforming landscapes and altering ecosystem function worldwide. The speed and direction of weed spread determines the success or failure of costly containment and control actions, however we lack the ability to adequately predict spread. New models that combine micrometeorological measurements, within-canopy turbulence and topographic variation in wind flows will be designed to better predict where dispersal will occur. In this project, these improved predictions are planned to be combined with decision models to direct the management of invasive species across entire landscapes.Read moreRead less
What drives novel community formation? Mechanisms of resilience against invasion and native species persistence under land use change. Environmental change is driving the creation of novel communities, stable mixes of native and exotic species. These communities are inevitable outcomes of human-induced environmental changes, yet why and how they form is still poorly understood. As these communities maintain high levels of native biodiversity, they are of great conservation value. Using Western A ....What drives novel community formation? Mechanisms of resilience against invasion and native species persistence under land use change. Environmental change is driving the creation of novel communities, stable mixes of native and exotic species. These communities are inevitable outcomes of human-induced environmental changes, yet why and how they form is still poorly understood. As these communities maintain high levels of native biodiversity, they are of great conservation value. Using Western Australia wildflower communities, This project aims to provide the first experimental tests of which environmental and biotic factors drive novel community formation, native species persistence and resilience to invasion. This will be important for developing realistic conservation plans in many ecosystems globally, and more specifically in Western Australia's biodiversity hotspot.Read moreRead less
How positive interactions improve predictions of plant community diversity. Though common in nature, the importance of plant-plant facilitation to coexistence and the maintenance of plant diversity at community scales is poorly understood. This project aims to advance understanding of how positive interactions (facilitation) impact on coexistence among plant species as well as local patterns of diversity. To achieve these aims the project will use a combination of field experiments and a compara ....How positive interactions improve predictions of plant community diversity. Though common in nature, the importance of plant-plant facilitation to coexistence and the maintenance of plant diversity at community scales is poorly understood. This project aims to advance understanding of how positive interactions (facilitation) impact on coexistence among plant species as well as local patterns of diversity. To achieve these aims the project will use a combination of field experiments and a comparative analysis of competition and facilitation in Australian, Californian and Spanish annual plant communities with a novel modelling approach for predicting coexistence across variable environments. Outcomes are expected to include an innovative predictive framework of use for plant conservation in Australia and beyond.Read moreRead less
Exotic and native plant coexistence in novel communities. The development of novel communities has become an inevitable outcome of global change. Despite this, we have a poor understanding of the mechanisms driving their assembly. Here, experimental and modelling approaches will be used to identify how competition among native and exotic plant species change across key environmental gradients, leading to: resilient native communities; stable novel communities - mixes of native and exotic species ....Exotic and native plant coexistence in novel communities. The development of novel communities has become an inevitable outcome of global change. Despite this, we have a poor understanding of the mechanisms driving their assembly. Here, experimental and modelling approaches will be used to identify how competition among native and exotic plant species change across key environmental gradients, leading to: resilient native communities; stable novel communities - mixes of native and exotic species; or, degraded communities dominated by exotic species. The annual plant communities of Western Australia's (WA) York Gum woodlands will be used as a model system. Outcomes will improve management of WA wildflower communities and provide a framework for predicting novel community formation worldwide.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102221
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Investigating the susceptibility of native vegetation edges to alien plant invasion: a quantitative study to help prevent and control invasive species. Alien plant invasion is a major threat to biodiversity in national parks and nature reserves. Determining the relative influence of plant characteristics, number of alien plant seeds and availability of light, water and nutrients on weed invasion will indicate what prevention and control strategies should be used to combat invasive plants.
Exotic and native plant coexistence in novel communities. The development of novel communities has become an inevitable outcome of global change. Despite this, we have a poor understanding of the mechanisms driving their assembly. Here, experimental and modelling approaches will be used to identify how competition among native and exotic plant species change across key environmental gradients, leading to: resilient native communities; stable novel communities - mixes of native and exotic species ....Exotic and native plant coexistence in novel communities. The development of novel communities has become an inevitable outcome of global change. Despite this, we have a poor understanding of the mechanisms driving their assembly. Here, experimental and modelling approaches will be used to identify how competition among native and exotic plant species change across key environmental gradients, leading to: resilient native communities; stable novel communities - mixes of native and exotic species; or, degraded communities dominated by exotic species. The annual plant communities of Western Australia's (WA) York Gum woodlands will be used as a model system. Outcomes will improve management of WA wildflower communities and provide a framework for predicting novel community formation worldwide.Read moreRead less
Do microbes facilitate the invasion of marine plants? Worldwide, management of invasive species is limited by the understandings of processes that allow invasive species to establish and proliferate in a new environment. It is believed that marine microbes play a critical, but untested, role in the establishment of invasive marine macrophytes. This project aims to test the theory by integrating cutting edge microbial ecology with eukaryote ecology, two largely disparate research areas. Invasive ....Do microbes facilitate the invasion of marine plants? Worldwide, management of invasive species is limited by the understandings of processes that allow invasive species to establish and proliferate in a new environment. It is believed that marine microbes play a critical, but untested, role in the establishment of invasive marine macrophytes. This project aims to test the theory by integrating cutting edge microbial ecology with eukaryote ecology, two largely disparate research areas. Invasive species are a serious threat to biodiversity globally and cost more than $4 billion annually. This project aims to create new knowledge essential for safeguarding Australia’s marine ecosystems from invasive pests, and will place Australia at the forefront of invasion ecology.Read moreRead less